Study Indicates Fresh Produce Damage Reduction with Reusables

According to a study initiated by the Stiftung Initiative Mehrweg (SIM) -a German foundation for reusable systems- carried out by Fraunhofer Institute and the University of Bonn, throughout the whole supply chain for fresh fruit and vegetables from the producer to the retail, around 4 percent of all disposable packaging was damaged, while this figure was just 0.1 percent for reusable packaging.

In the course of the study, more than 78,000 packaging units for transport were inspected at central warehouses and retailers,including 52 percent reusable and 48 percent single trip.

The study determined that if only reusable containers were used in the German market, only 1,100 tonnes of fruit and vegetables valued at two million Euro would have been lost. It was estimated that if only single trip packaging had been used, the lost product would translate to 36,000 tonnes valued at 68 million Euro.

Extrapolating from these figures to the Spanish global exports of fresh fruits and vegetables, more than 1,800 million euros could be saved when using just reusable crates and containers.